In Hampstead, the leafy north London enclave popular with celebrities and the wealthy alike, the one-time home of the wartime French president Charles de Gaulle has come to the market, Report informs, citing Mansion Global.
Asking £15 million (US$20.6 million), Frognal House was the home of the political reformer and general and his family in the 1940s after France fell to Nazi Germany. His wife, Yvonne de Gaulle, reportedly kept chickens in the home's garden so that her youngest daughter could have fresh eggs.
When the mid-18th-century property hit the market last week, it marked the first time the spread has been available in more than 50 years, according to Bargets Estate Agents, which shares the listing with Knight Frank.
The convent, which has been expanded over time and now totals more than 13,000 square feet, has the potential to be redeveloped back into a sprawling private family home. With close proximity to Hampstead Heath and the local high street, Frognal House will undoubtedly attract a high amount of attention from a range of interested parties.
Charles de Gaulle fought against Nazi Germany during World War II and founded Free France in London. In Britain, the general became one of the leaders of the resistance movement.
After France's liberation, de Gaulle chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 and then began living on a mansion in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises. The National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis. He founded the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency, and he was elected to continue in that role. He resigned in 1970 and died a year later.